Currently there are a set of canned responses for when one wants to decline an incoming call on an iPhone, and they’re pretty impersonal: “I’m on my way.” “Sorry, I can’t talk right now.” and “Can I call you later?” don’t really give the person on the other end of the line much of an idea of why you can’t chat.
“Smartphones are increasing popular. When a user receives a phone call, the user’s smartphone typically provides options to either answer the call or decline the call. A simple declining of the call does not provide any information to the caller regarding the user’s status or the reason why the user cannot answer the call. For example, the caller may not know whether the user declines the call because the user is driving, attending a meeting, or simply does not want to pick up the call. It is thus desirable for provide a digital assistant that can enable intelligent declining of an incoming call in a more informative and communicative manner.” — from the patent.
Apple is working on changing the way their responses to declined calls work — with the help of Siri — by employing ” user-specific data,” like location and activity data, that will create tailored responses to declined calls based on what the user is doing at that present time.
Apple’s “Intelligent Digital Assistant for Declining an Incoming Call” patent was filed in late 2016. It hasn’t been turned into an actual iOS feature yet, but who knows what’s ahead at WWDC, which is less than two weeks away.#apple #siri May 25, 2018
How it works
The diagrams that Apple provides in the patent, focused around CarPlay, show the digital assistant letting the user know who is calling and asking how they would like to respond, which can be done by uttering a verbal command. For example, when the user is driving and receives a call they can opt to decline the call by telling the digital assistant to send a smart reply that tells the person on the other end what they’re doing and how far away they are — all based on the “user-specific data” that’s being collected.
As The Verge reported, Google is also in the midst of building a similar-sounding app (currently in its Beta build) that would add the option of a “Smart Reply” to messages and emails.
Other Apple patent news
It seems to have been a good few days for Apple in terms of patents, with the recent news that a jury has found that Samsung owes Apple USD$539 million with regards to a patent case that has been ongoing since 2011. While the case was decided in 2012 (and was huge news back then), when Apple was awarded over USD1 billion in damages from Samsung, it’s been a back-and-forth ever since. Post the major 2011 ruling, Samsung took to the the Supreme court where they had a big win when the court found that “Samsung’s damages shouldn’t amount to the total sale of the products at issue.” This recent win for Apple is just an extension of this case and CNET has a longer rundown with all the specifics.
2011: Apple sues Samsung for patent infringement, asks for $2B in damages.
2014: Jury awards Apple more than $119M
2014-2016: So many appeals
2017: Dear God, this case is still going on?
2018: Apple wins $533 million in damages— Shira Ovide (@ShiraOvide) May 24, 2018
